Roger Federer made a winning return to competitive tennis after six months out of the game on Monday, thrilling a packed Rod Laver Arena as he beat qualifier Juergen Melzer 7-5, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to reach the Australian Open second round.
Rediff.com presents the early surprises at the year's first Grand Slam.
Madison Keys is determined to take an extra step at the Grand Slams
Serena Williams took some coaching advice from a fan during her fourth round match.
Eugenie Bouchard will spend Monday 'cramming' for one of the toughest exams of her fledgling career when she faces second seed Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open quarter-finals.
Serena Williams weathered an early challenge from Russian Vera Zvonareva before the former World No 2 crumbled to lose 7-5, 6-0 in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday.
Grigor Dimitrov reached his first grand slam quarter-final in over two years on Monday by defeating an injury-hampered Denis Istomin 2-6, 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-1 to end the Uzbek wildcard's fairytale run at the Australian Open.
There was not an ounce of bitterness as Osaka accepted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup from Asia's first Grand Slam champion Li Na
Petra Kvitova was proud of her second-set fightback against Naomi Osaka in the Australian Open final, on Saturday, but was left ruing her inability to convert her chances in her loss to the Japanese.
Tsitsipas was left searching for answers to explain the pounding at the hands of Nadal
"It's kind of hard to say because she -- there's nothing I did wrong on those match points," Williams told reporters after her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title ended.
A very different Australian Open comes to a familiar end on Sunday as Novak Djokovic looks to thwart another challenge to his Melbourne Park dynasty from the latest Grand Slam aspirant in Daniil Medvedev.
Jennifer Brady spent two weeks in hard quarantine gathering mental strength for her tilt at a maiden Grand Slam title and will hope there is plenty in reserve when she takes on Naomi Osaka in Saturday's Australian Open final.
Sloane Stephens was keen to swat away any references to a controversial clash against Victoria Azarenka at last year's Australian Open as the American advanced to a possible fourth-round clash against the two-times champion on Monday.
Novak Djokovic endured a fierce challenge to his Melbourne Park reign before overhauling Dominic Thiem 6-4, 4-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday to clinch an eighth Australian Open crown and reclaim the world number one ranking. He captured the decisive break in the third game of the final set, then held firm as Thiem made desperate assaults on his serve. Going for broke in a nerve-shredding final game, the fifth seeded Austrian went for the lines but missed twice to hand Djokovic one of his most hard-earnt triumphs.
American Sofia Kenin counter-punched her way back from a set down against Garbine Muguruza to win her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win in Melbourne on Saturday. The 21-year-old Kenin, seeded 14th at Melbourne Park, converted her second matchpoint against the twice Grand Slam champion, who double faulted on the final point, to end an engrossing contest that lasted more than two hours.
Garbine Muguruza outclassed former finalist Simona Halep in straight sets to enter the final of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Thursday. Meanwhile, Sofia Kenin sent world number one Ash Barty spinning out of the Melbourne Park semi-finals 7-6, 7-5 on Thursday, crushing Australian hopes of a first home-grown champion at the Grand Slam in 42 years. The 21-year-old Kenin showed her frustration at times, throwing her racquet on court, but managed to hang in and saved three breakpoints to hold for 3-3 and eventually force a tiebreaker.
Champion Novak Djokovic did not bother with a practice hit before his showdown with Kei Nishikori and his "less is more" approach paid off with an easy 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win on Tuesday to set up a blockbuster Australian Open semi-final with Roger Federer.
Serena Williams creates ripples with her latest outfit.
Djokovic may never feel the affections of the crowd savoured by Federer and Spaniard Rafael Nadal but his record of 16 Grand Slam titles is proof that tennis is no popularity contest.
Rafael Nadal easily avoided the embarrassment of a back-to-back first round exits at the Australian Open on Tuesday, ramping up his serve and rattling off 39 winners to beat Florian Mayer 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 on Rod Laver Arena.
Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov kept cool in the Rod Laver Arena maelstrom to knock home favourite Nick Kyrgios out of the Australian Open in a fourth-round thriller on Sunday.
Relief was at hand, however, with a cool change blowing over the city and the temperature expected to fall back below 30 by the evening.
Australian Open runner-up Marin Cilic queried the decision to close the roof at Rod Laver Arena for the men's final on Sunday and said it had contributed to his slow start in defeat to Roger Federer.
Nightmares loom for players dreaming of Grand Slam success if they have the misfortune of running into bespectacled bogeyman Chung Hyeon in coming years, according to his coach Neville Godwin.
Edmund is no flash Harry, on or off the court
Rafael Nadal's Australian Open quarter-final curse struck again on Tuesday, an injury forcing the top seed to retire in the fifth set against Croatia's Marin Cilic.
The 2016 champion's next opponent may be far more to her liking than Hsieh, whose dazzling marksmanship left Kerber shrieking in frustration throughout much of the two-hour and eight-minute clash.
Maria Sharapova's dreams of a sixth Grand Slam title were ended by Serena Williams and her wrecking ball serve in the Australian Open final on Saturday, but the Russian was adamant she would someday have the American's measure.
Djokovic, playing his first tournament for six months because of an elbow problem, dropped his opening two service games and although he battled back to break Monfils twice he wavered again as scrappy opener went his opponents' way.
Roger Federer faced down local battler John Millman 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) in a five-set thriller on Friday night to reach the last 16 of the Australian Open. Defending champion Novak Djokovic thumped Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 in the third round of the Australian Open on Friday to stay on course for a record-extending eighth title at Melbourne Park. Images from Day 5 of the 2020 Australian Open.
Photos from the Australian Open matches played at Melbourne Park on Wednesday.
Images from Day 6 of the Australian Open in Melbourne, on Saturday.
Daniil Medvedev will play Rafael Nadal for the Australian Open title on Sunday after a stirring victory over Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semi-final on Friday.
In the 18 years that she has been on tour, Sania Mirza was the standard-bearer for tennis in the country. Never before had an Indian player dominated from the back court with such conviction. Deepti Patwardhan Salutes the Incomparable Sania Mirza.
A marauding Rafael Nadal ended Stefanos Tsitsipas's trailblazing run at the Australian Open on Thursday, thrashing the 20-year-old Greek in a 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 masterclass to reach a fifth final at Melbourne Park.
Serena Williams said it was a 'great feeling' to surpass Steffi Graf as the most prolific grand slam champion of the open era at the Australian Open on Saturday and was not prepared to put a number on the haul of titles she might end up with.
Change might be afoot though, according to American great John McEnroe
Photos from matches on Day 2 at the Australian Open on Tuesday
Dominic Thiem will clash with Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the men's singles final of the Australian Open. The Austrian made the title round with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), 7-6(4) victory Germany's Alexander Zverev in the second semi-final at Melbourne Park on Friday. Djokovic beat great rival Roger Federer 7-6(1), 6-4, 6-3 in the first semi-final on Thursday.
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